Share the Season is an annual campaign that offers one-time aid to people affected by unforeseen hardships. The people are not identified to protect their privacy.

Her gas bill was the main problem.

“I had been putting aside the bill for a long time,” she said. “Now, this service has been cut out and now for this winter, I don’t have any gas to heat up my house. I have been heating water on the stove to give my children baths. … I have been using a small electrical heater to heat part of the house we use the most.”

Her mother’s house is open to her and her two children during the day.

“We have been spending most of the day time at my mom’s house, but when the night comes we have to go back to our house, and lately the house is freezing when we get there,” she said.

Next month, she will have to start paying off her school loans.

“Last year I received my diploma in Spanish Education, but I didn’t have the money to take the PLT test and get my teaching license,” she said. “The test costs $150. I took the test one time but I didn’t pass just by four points.”

Her gas bill and two medical bills will be covered by Share the Season.

“If it weren’t for this help, I don’t know what me and my family would’ve done,” she said. “I would’ve gotten more and more behind on everything.”

She hopes that with her next paycheck, she’ll be able to take, and pass, the test for her teaching license.

She said she is indebted to the friend who told her about Share the Season.

“I’m just glad that a program like this exists,” she said. “Sometimes you just need a little push to move forward and pay all your important bills. This is an early Christmas present for me.”

Send contributions to Share the Season at the Wichita Community Foundation, 301 N. Main, Suite 100, Wichita, KS 67202.

Donations also can be made through PayPal online at www.wichitacf.org. Donors will be listed in The Eagle; please note if you prefer to remain anonymous. For more information, call 316-264-4880.

To apply for help: Download an application at www.sharetheseason.org, or pick one up at the Salvation Army, 350 N. Market, Wichita. For more information, call 316-263-2769.